Press release from OMG

I received the following press release from Omnicom Media Group. I decided to publish it entirely as it is and not to make any comments upon it. I would also like to point out that I did not have any interests other than just telling people what happens on the Romanian advertising market. I promise my readers that I’ll get back with more information regarding this subject.

Media group Omnicom Media Group announces changes in the top management

As of 20th of January 2008 the new Chief Financial Officer of OMG Romania is Mihai Rusescu, a professional with 14 years of experience on the business. Also Ruxandra Stefan will step down from Managing Director OMD Romania position. “We thank Ruxandra Stefan for the hard work over the past 5 years in OMD Romania and we wish her success in her new ventures”.

We hereby inform you that as of 1st of March 2008 - Optimum Media Direction Romania will have a new Managing Director. Until then the interim will be insured by Carmen Tanasie, CEO Omnicom Media Group, the media group to whom OMD Romania belongs to.

These changes are the consequence of the re-launch process of  OMD Romania – changes that OMG is implementing as first of January 2008, and that will set OMD on a more aggressive direction in the Romanian media market and will position the company on the same coordinates as internationally - among the most innovative and creative media agencies. 

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is the division of media services of  Omnicom Group Inc., world leader in the advertising, marketing and communications industries, having in its portfolio more than 5000 clients in more than 100 countries. Omnicom Media Group includes international full media service networks such as: OMD, PHD and Prometheus as well as other specialized media companies.

BenQ separated in Benq and... QISDA

As you can read here, BenQ will become QISDA, which stands for Quality Innovation Speed Driving Achievements. The name is very appropriate for a an IT products company, but let’s wonder if they would have any success on Romanian market.

The website www.qisda.com is active, but so is www.benq.com. So? What’s the story?

Well, according to their Press Officer, they wanted to separate its branded and manufacturing business. That is they manufacture cameras, LCDs and so on, but the original legal entity is renamed Qisda and comprise BenQ’s manufacturing. They established a new legal entity called BenQ corporation that takes over the assets and liabilities of the branded business. (The proof is here.)

BenQ Corporation will have its own R&D Center and headquarters, and will deal only with global sales and marketing operations. Qisda will comprise all manufacturing and have its own R&D Center and headquarters and will only deal with manufacturing operations.

The concept is not new and the strategy is good, but the name that will deal with manufacturing operations is awesome. Thank God they didn’t promote it as the sold product, even if the Qisda Corporation will sell unbranded products.

Anyway, they will have a factory near Romania, in Brno (Czech Republic). Called, of course, Qisda.

So, how about watching a movie on a Qisda laptop, take some pictures with the Qisda camera and so on... Even better, let’s buy some Qisda electronics in Botswana with some „pula” (BWP-Botswana Pula, the currency from Botswana). Imagine the possibilities of combining those two terms for a Romanian spoker. Geeez! And they have offices in Romania, how about that? I wonder if they are still called BenQ or Qisda is the name...

For those who don’t know, Qisda is pronounced „chizda” in Romanian. According to the dictionary, it’s a regionalism for a word starting with letter P which means... Better read it yourself here.

New Strategy Director for GMP

Mirela Angelescu (photo), former Client Service Director, will be the new Strategy Director for GMP. This would mean that the Strategy Department for the agency led by Felix Tataru will bring more value to the relationship client-agency.

Even if there wasn’t such a department before, the agency had a Strategic Planner from 2006, when Teodor Cucu was appointed to that position. Felix Tataru always claimed that GMP had strategy as their work was awarded six times at the last Effie editions.

Felix Tataru announced that the position Mirela Angelescu held till now will be filled in February. The new Client Service Director is advertised to be “a person with vast experience in marketing and communication field and also management”.

Mirela Angelescu joined GMP in march 2005, as Client Service Director. She has an experience of more than 10 years in communication and worked on projects like Cosmote launching, Gabriel Rosia Montana communication campaign, Millennium Bank launch in Romania. GMP has a portfolio of clients and brands like: A&D Pharma, Alcatel, ApaNova, Monte Banato, Millennium Bank, Unilever.

OMD is not in crisis... but people are leaving the company...

Ruxandra Stefan, Managing Director of OMD Romania, resigned last week. She did not want to comment upon the reasons of her leaving.

Still, it is said that the main reason is related to the poor professional relationship with Carmen Tanasie, CEO of Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the local unit of media division from the Omnicom marketing and communication group, which was created last year.

There are some rumors that, together with Ruxandra Stefan, some of the seniors will also leave OMD. The team has 25 people present days.

Ruxandra Stefan has been in the media business since 1994, and in Omnicom Media since 2000. She was Managing Director since 2004. OMD was founded in November 2004, with the participation of TBWA (50%) and DDB (50%). Until then, the agency was named Mediaplan and was affiliated with Omniacom.

There is a question though... OMD just won two big accounts: Citroen and Wallmark... They will be soon short of people...Making people leave would mean shorter of people...